


A Story

by thornsilver



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Gen, cats for everyone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-17 04:25:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16967640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thornsilver/pseuds/thornsilver
Summary: The Hub gets invaded. Again.





	A Story

**Author's Note:**

> This work was originally posted to my LJ.

Jack didn't need to sleep. He could, if he wanted to, but he saw no reason to court nightmares. Most of the time.

Sometimes, however, the mood struck him. He was strangely nostalgic. He was hoping for good dreams. He was suffering from temporary bout of insanity... This happened to be one of those days.

****

Jack was glad that he did not remember what he was dreaming beyond a vague sense of dread. He felt groggy and disconnected and very much in need of Ianto's magical brand of coffee.

He was doing his best to climb up from his quarters without slipping down the ladder and breaking something important (like possibly his neck) and not paying much attention to anything except his sense of balance, so coming nose-to-nose with a pair of yellow eyes was somewhat of a shock.

He did not scream *or* fall down the ladder.

It did take him a little while to find his equilibrium though.

His visitor blinked lazily, sat up straight, and wrapped a tail around its feet tidily.

"Ianto! There is a cat in my office!"

****

Jack couldn't help but note some resemblance between Ianto and his office guest. (Currently imitating a cat sculpture in the middle of Jack's desk.) It might have been the facial expression. Or, it might have been the unmistakable air of the well-dressed. The cat was black with white muzzle, white throat, white socks, and white tip on his tail. Jack thought he looked like he was wearing a tuxedo. Proudly.

"Ianto, there is a *cat* in my office."

"Indeed, Sir."

Jack loved word games as much as the next immortal time traveler, but Ianto was one of the few people who frequently managed to leave him in the dust without as much as moving a nicely curved eyebrow.

"Why is it... No, wait. *How* is it in my office? Did it bypass the security systems?"

"I have to say, Sir, that I am as mystified as you are. However, I took a liberty of running some tests."

"And....?"

"It's a cat, Sir."

Jack *did not* hit his head on the desk.

****

Owen, after much grumbling and swearing, confirmed that the invader was, indeed, a cat. More specifically a neutered male, approximately three years of age, in perfect health and not carrying any biological or technological items that did not belong in its body. He also had sharp claws and was not shy in using them when he found the procedures too disagreeable. Owen's hands were wrapped up in several different patterns of bandages, and he was very eager to prove that the cat was an alien by the way of dissection. Jack himself wasn't so sure that it was a bad idea, but Gwen and Tosh were cooing over the animal, and he knew when he was outclassed.

By the end of the day the reviews of Hub's logs and security footage still came up with no explanation as to where the cat came from before he introduced himself to Ianto in the kitchen by demanding a portion of Myfanwy's breakfast. For all they knew he could have walked through walls.

"You are regular Houdini, you are...." Cooed Gwen as she scritched him behind the ears. The cat gave Gwen a dubious look and moved out of reach. The name stuck.

****

Houdini liked to spend time with Tosh and Ianto. He was usually found lounging on Tosh's desk, or sitting near whenever Ianto was at the time. He tolerated Gwen, maintained hostilities with Owen, and regarded Jack with intense suspicion. He also cowed Myfanwy to the point that the dinosaur refused to land when the cat was in the main office. Ianto had to start locking Houdini up before he fed the pterodactyl.

After a while they have all gotten used to yellow eyes appearing out of nowhere, and things had returned to the Torchwood facsimile of normal. Ianto was the only one who didn't regularly get covered with cat hair.

****

"Women!"

Jack drew on his best stealth skills when he heard that. Hearing Owen talking about women was always entertaining. Possibly in the same way as a train wreck. He really needed to explain human relationships to the man one of these days.

"Not that you need to worry about that, now are you, with your bollocks being snuffed off and all."

Owen was... talking to the cat. And he wasn't even that drunk!

"Sometimes, mate, I think you've got the right idea."

Maybe Jack should make fun of him another time.

****

Tosh talked to Houdini when the computer, alien tech, or Owen were giving her problems.

Gwen told Houdini extended stories about Rhys. And, occasionally, shared her opinion of reality shows.

Owen threw paper balls for him to chase when he was bored.

Ianto spoke to the cat in Welsh. Jack suspected that he treated Houdini to a long list of complains about the rest of the team, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know for certain.

Once Jack went down to his quarters only to find Houdini on his pillow, purring loudly enough to produce an echo. Jack moved the pillow to the side, together with its occupant, to free the space on the bed for himself and spent a couple of hours drifting on the edge of sleep in the semidarkness, peaceful and content.


End file.
